I’m still thinking about how successful Ohio State’s offense was against Iowa

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Heading into Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes, some of the Hawkeyes’ statistics were a bit misleading. Their rush attack, for example, was averaging more than 215 yards per game through the first four weeks of the season.

Don’t let the numbers deceive you, though: These stats were lopsided, bolstered by impressive numbers against teams like Northern Iowa (422 yards) and Northern Illinois (289 yards), while the Hawkeyes generated fewer than 100 yards on the ground against both Iowa State and Michigan. 

One area where Iowa’s numbers were perhaps as impressive in reality as they seemed on paper, however, was scoring defense. Ahead of the Ohio State game, Iowa led the country in scoring defense, giving up an average of just eight points per game.

If there’s an argument to be made that this was just as lopsided as their rushing numbers, I don’t agree. They allowed both Iowa State and Michigan just 16 points, shutting out Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa completely.

Ohio State, for comparison, hasn’t shut out a single opponent, allowing field goals from Ball State and Kent State and giving up 19 points to a less-than-stellar Illinois team.

Since facing the Buckeyes, Iowa still ranks in the top 10 for scoring defense, though they are now tied at No. 8 with Ohio State. 

That they gave up 31 points against the Buckeyes speaks more to the caliber of Ohio State’s offense than to the shortcomings of Iowa’s defense. That it wasn’t even a perfect game from Ohio State’s offense demonstrates what this group is able to accomplish when they execute even a fraction of the time. 

It’s not that I was ever expecting the Buckeye offense to be bad—or even merely mediocre. Ohio State football doesn’t settle for those things, and with this much talent, even on its worst day this offense is still better than most.

But the team didn’t exactly finish with its best foot forward against Texas, and this presented the first major test since then, so this game was an opportunity to get a better feel for a more-fully-realized identity this season.

Boy, did they deliver in style, amassing 484 total offensive yards against a team that had, prior to last Saturday, only allowed 400+ yards in five of its last 58 games.

A large portion of this high-octane offense has to be credited, of course, to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who broke the school records for career touchdowns and career receptions on Saturday, in addition to holding the record for career yardage.

Before the season is up, not only will he be alone in the record books, but it’s quite possible no one will ever come close to those numbers in the future. 

Additionally, having quarterback Julian Sayin, a 2025 Heisman finalist, doesn’t hurt: Sayin holds the all-time single-season completion percentage in D1 football history at 78.9 percent, and his career percentage, which currently sits at 75 percent, would also be a record if he can maintain that number. 

It’s hard to separate the guy throwing and the guy catching—Smith needs a guy who can get him the ball, and Sayin can trust that even if he throws into triple coverage—as he often does because that’s what it takes to even have a chance to contain Smith—Smith can still make the catch. 

Sayin, for what it’s worth, wasn’t just throwing the ball either. Though he hasn’t historically relied on his legs, it was nice to see Sayin take off to try to pick up some yards on plays that otherwise fell apart, gaining 28 yards on nine carries (the stats will show him at -1 yard, thanks to 29 yards lost via sacks).

Heading into the game against Iowa, a few areas of Ohio State’s identity still needed defining, one of which was their rush attack. Though they only averaged 3.4 yards per carry on the day, the Buckeyes ran the ball 47 times against the Hawkeyes, and in particular, Ja’Kobi Jackson seemed to steadily gain yards on the ground all game.

His solid effort amounted to 72 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Though Jackson doesn’t lead the team in yardage, he does have six touchdowns on the year and leads in average yards per carry at 6.2. 

If there’s one area the Buckeyes still need to sort out, it’s their offensive line, who gave up four sacks against the Hawkeyes and seemed to be handing over yardage left and right via multiple false starts.

With a trip to Indiana coming up and back-to-back games against USC and Oregon immediately following the bye week, the offensive line has to get things cleaned up. In fact, some of the challenges with the rush attack have to be attributed to inconsistent offensive line play as well. 

As it stands right now, the Buckeyes put up pretty dominant offensive numbers against a very solid football team, in a road game I think many of us were worried about heading into it.

With little wiggle room left after their early loss to Texas, this game felt critical for the Buckeyes. Being able to not just establish a lead but maintain it (especially in the wake of the team’s collapse against Texas) was a crucial test, one that they passed with flying colors. 

If the Buckeyes can continue to clean up the areas that need tweaking, it positions them well to finish out the rest of their schedule strong, continuing to make the case that even with a loss, they are one of the best football teams in this country right now.

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